A focus on broadening access to private markets will be a priority for the Investment Association in 2026.
Chief executive Chris Cummings, said private markets were playing an “ever-greater role in driving growth”.
He said: “Private equity, credit and infrastructure investments are central to delivering long-term capital for innovation, job creation and economic transformation.
“A policy focus on broadening access to private assets for both institutional and retail investors in a way that is appropriate will remain a priority.”
He said such a policy would ensure these markets contributed to financial inclusion and sustainable growth.
However, he said private markets were just “one side of the coin” with public markets remaining key.
He added the Investment Association wanted to see more firms listing and growing their presence in the UK.
Reflecting on 2025, Cummings said it had been a year of growth and adjusting to a new political landscape, with new governments having been elected in Europe, the UK and US in the the previous year.
“For UK investment managers, this has meant navigating diverging policy approaches across jurisdictions, as well as market volatility from the introduction of US tariffs,” he added.
“This year has also seen firms embrace opportunities presented by technological advancement — from tokenisation and distributed ledger technology to advances in AI.”
He said the investment industry would continue to play a “critical role in supporting financial resilience” with the assets under management of IA members growing by 10 per cent to £10tn, the highest level on record.
Financial literacy
Another focus for the industry in 2026 was retail investment, said Cummings.
“Financial literacy will be critical to driving the long-term cultural change”, according to Cummings.
He added: “We expect education to become increasingly embedded in schools with the recently announced changes to the school curriculum, which was a positive step forward.”
tara.o’connor@ft.com
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